Member Forum on Open Schooling: schools as open communities

How can schools cooperate with and within society? Is there a way to broaden how we see learning? And can Open Schooling broaden that perspective?

Open Schooling means transforming the school from a closed environment, to an “innovative ecosystem” where students, teachers, education policy makers, parents, and other interested members of society cooperate in order to expand the learning environment beyond the school walls. In an open school, the classroom walls drop away and the entire community becomes an annex of the school in which students have access to rich content, outside experts, additional resources, an authentic place and context for learning, and work based experiences.

In this session we will firstly be handing the space to a panel of teachers and experience-based experts to provide us with in-depth knowledge on Open Schooling, ranging from the theoretical framework to practical examples of what open schools are and can be. At the same time we will be presenting the outcomes of the Outside project, a European funded project uniting nine partners (schools and educational organizations) in five European countries, experimenting with new forms of learning outside of the classroom, thinking outside the box and literally going outside. We will get to know the impact this project has had on the participating students. Then, as a practical example of open schooling we are welcoming the Lycée Voyageur: a decentralized school on wheels, taking students into the daily world for learning opportunities.

In the second part of the session we invite you; teachers, parents, policymakers or changemakers, to share your experiences about the relationship between your school and the local community: has your school engaged in external activities? What is the relationship with local actors? Is your class going out “in the world”? There will be space to share experiences, ask questions and open discussion. 

Everyone is very welcome to join us on this topic. Register for the online event by clicking the link above.